Beauty / Health and wellbeing | 21.08.2015

Natural skin care: what you see isn't always what you get

The words ‘natural skin care’ have never been more powerful. 'Natural' has become such a big marketing buzzword that cosmetics companies are slapping it
on their bottles, boxes, tubes and jars with wild abandon — whether or not the
ingredients inside ARE actually natural.

Never let the truth get in the way of a good story, right?

And it turns out many consumers aren’t that fussed, as long
as the product LOOKS natural.

Social analytics firm NetBase conducted a two-year study
into exactly what consumers are saying about leading skin care brands online. The Brand Passion Report found that the 5 aspects of skin care that matter most to consumers (judging by
comments on global social media sites) are:

Great scent

Natural looking

Great moisturiser

Value

Anti-aging

The highest amount of positive brand conversation was about
‘natural looking’ products, while talk about ‘anti-aging’ products had dropped in the past couple of years.

I’m not quite sure what to make of this. On the one hand, it’s positive that people are seeking out
‘natural looking’ products. But on the other hand, what’s the point of paying for a
product just because it looks natural but is, in all likelihood, filled with
toxic chemicals, preservatives, fillers, synthetic fragrances, plasticisers and endocrine disruptors?

I really hope some of those consumers that feel drawn to the illusion of all things natural, clean, fresh and healthy will dig a little deeper.

I always suggest people read the ingredients labels (ingredients are listed by volume in descending order so if the first ingredients listed is water or aqua, that's what you're mostly paying for).

Breakdown of a skin care label

If you imagine the label is roughly divided into three parts, the ingredients are listed in descending order of quantity:

1. The top third of the label: this area lists the ingredients that
constitute the majority of the product. These ingredients usually make
up around 80-95% of the product and the common ingredient you’ll find
here is water, or aqua.

2. The middle third of the label: this constitutes about 4–12% of the
product and is made up of oils, actives, emulsifiers and surfactants.

3. The bottom third of the label: this makes up around 1–8% of the
product and consists of preservatives, fragrances, stabilisers and label
claims. Because ingredients are listed in descending order, by the time you
get to the lower third of the label, some of those ingredients could be
just label claims. For example, if a product is boasting that it
contains argan oil, but the argan oil is listed way down the bottom,
it’s probably a label claim.

stay a step ahead of deceptive marketing

'botanical source' – a vague statement about an ingredient that may have once, many aeons ago, come from a plant.

unpronounceable names followed by a number are often toxic chemicals – e.g. glyceryl cocoate polyethylene glycol (7) or methylisothiazolinone.

price is a good indicator of quality (but not always) – if you find a supposedly 'organic' skin care range that is really cheap, it's probably not as natural as is being claimed (certified organic ingredients are expensive). Having said that, just because the big brands are expensive, it doesn't mean they contain good quality ingredients (you're paying for their advertising and marketing budget).

'emulsifying wax' – sounds harmless enough, wax is natural right? Wrong. It can be just about anything and can contain nasties like polyethylene glycol (PEG).

to access the percentage of plant based ingredients look out for the Latin name, for example when I use certified organic macadamia nut oil, I list it with the correct INCI Macadamia ternifolia.

For the sake of your health, your family's health and the health of your bank balance, learn to decipher greenwashed products
from skin care products that really are natural and/or organic and filled with
ingredients that are truly natural, nourishing
for your skin and non-toxic.

Anything else is, in my opinion, a waste of time and money.

Are you swayed by marketing of skin care products that use the word 'natural' or create natural-looking packaging?

Join the discussion

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